Sherman Has Cancer
by MinteaFresha
Summary: Heheheheh


It was late in the evening. Mr. Peabody sat alone in the cold, empty waiting room in the hospital, waiting patiently for the someone to call him into the hallway. His son, Sherman, was terminally ill from leukemia. They had gone through many adventures through time travel together. Mr. Peabody was afraid this would be his last chance to talk to him.

A nurse finally appeared and said, "Are you Mr. Peabody?"

"Yes," Mr. Peabody said.

"This way, please, sir."

She led Mr. Peabody to Suite C-376. "Here he is," she said, motioning towards the hospital bed.

Sherman lifted his head slightly. "Hi Dad."

Mr. Peabody slowly departed from the doorway, walked up to Sherman and said, "How are you feeling?"

Sherman gave a frail smile. "I'm okay."

"Okay," Mr. Peabody whispered, his voice sounding distant and broken.

"Well..." Sherman shifted into a sitting up position. "Well, what's up?"

Mr. Peabody shrugged and sighed. "Not much. The same old work that you wouldn't understand." Other than his work, Mr. Peabody was mostly occupied with thinking about Sherman. He only had a few days left to live. Sherman managed to keep his mind off of it, but Mr. Peabody was a different case.

Mr. Peabody felt Sherman's hand lay on his paw. Mr. Peabody looked at Sherman.

"What's wrong?" Sherman asked plainly. "I don't want you to be sad."

"I don't want to tell you because it will make you sad, and I don't want you to be sad."

"I'm already sad knowing that you're thinking about something sad," Sherman said seriously.

Mr. Peabody frowned and looked back down at Sherman's hand. "You're dying."

Sherman's face crumpled. He looked down at Mr. Peabody's paw. "Yeah."

"How can you not think about that?" Mr. Peabody said.

Sherman tilted his head. "Well, I just don't. I like living in the present, I guess… It's better that way."

Mr. Peabody thought for a moment. He told Sherman to scoot over and hopped up onto the bed. Sherman readjusted his position again, snuggling closer to Mr. Peabody. Mr. Peabody said, "Would you like to hear a story?"

"Sure," Sherman replied gladly.

The room was silent besides the low hum of the medical machinery and and hallway lights. Mr. Peabody cleared his throat and began:

_There was a young boy, much like yourself, who always had a thirst for adventure. His parents didn't let him; they didn't even let him go outside! They always warned him of the dangers of the outdoors whenever he asked if he could go out to play or get the mail._

_The boy, whose name was…_

"Danny?" Sherman suggested.

"Hmmm... Daniel sounds just about right."

_The boy, whose name was Danny, wanted so badly to go outside! He thought that he would be able to meet people like on TV. He dreamed of walking around and feeling the warm sun or the cool rainfalls. The closest he had to that was looking out the windows- at the other children playing in the street that made him wish that he could be out there with them, and at the clouds that made him wish that he could really breathe..._

Mr. Peabody trailed off after noticing that Sherman was staring longingly at the window to the right of the bed.

Sherman let out a wistful sigh. "Keep going," he said.

Mr. Peabody tore his gaze from the window and complied:

_On his twelfth birthday, Danny decided to run away. For one day. It was his birthday, after all. Now, Sherman, don't you get any ideas about running away when you turn twelve!_

Sherman laughed. "I won't! I love you too much to even think about running away." Mr. Peabody chuckled.

_Danny slipped out of the house in the morning, when his parents hadn't gotten up yet and the sun had just cleared the horizon. It was a beautiful partly cloudy and sunny day. He was finally out there and enjoying the world! He started walking to the small shopping square two blocks away. He passed by a jogger who waved to him and he waved back. He went to the donut shop and bought a donut. He walked to the park and sat on a bench under a tree. It felt good, to finally be out of the house and walking farther than the driveway._

_However, his parents back at home were very worried about him. They found him in the park after five minutes of searching around town._

_"Danny! Don't do that again!" they scolded him._

_"But you never EVER let me go outside! Everyone else gets to."_

_But Danny's parents were firm. They grounded him and had him stay in his room for the rest of the day._

Sherman suddenly sat straight up. He said, "What? That's not how it's supposed to go."

Mr. Peabody replied, "Well, you haven't heard this story until now."

Sherman sank back into his pillow again. "Hmm."

_Danny attempted to escape from the house multiple times after that, and every time his mother and father told him the same: "Don't do that again."_

_Don't do it again… Why? Why not do it again?_

"Why?" Sherman emulated.

_Danny went to his parents and asked why._

_His mom and dad exchanged looks and decided to finally, ACTUALLY answer their son's question. Apparently, on the car ride on the way to the hospital for Danny's birth, they got into a car crash- but luckily got out of it with only minor injuries. This struck so much awareness and fear into them that they wanted to live with as little risk as possible. They most especially didn't want their son to experience anything like that._

_Danny responded by explaining how much he loved being outside and everything else he liked about what he knew about the world._

_To really prove it, Danny took them to the park at sunset. To the same bench that he stopped to rest on, on his twelfth birthday. It was a bench under a tree and on a hill, overlooking a pond. They could see all of the people and dogs playing and walking and talking with each other. It was the most beautiful thing Danny's parents had seen in thirteen years._

_That day, they learned that life is about taking risks and embracing the beautiful things. The happy family thereafter went on adventures and traveled all over the world during vacations. Taking risks. But whenever they wanted to stop for a bit, they would come back to the park bench and enjoy pure bliss..._

_And guess what, Sherman?_

Sherman was smiling to himself, imagining the last part of the story. He broke from his trance and looked to Mr. Peabody. "What?"

"They lived happily... ever… after..." Mr. Peabody finished. He folded his hands in satisfaction of a story that he had just thought of off the top of his head.

"Perfect…!" Sherman said, his smile growing. "That… that was a great story."

Mr. Peabody nodded. He liked the sound of "happily ever after." But as for Sherman's story…

Well.

That was something else entirely. It was reality.

Right when Mr. Peabody had been brought down to earth by negative thinking, Sherman spoke up again.

"...Dad?"

"Er, yes, Sherman?" Mr. Peabody said, turning to his son.

Sherman was completely facing Mr. Peabody. "Can we go to the park, too? Like, tomorrow?"

Mr. Peabody hesitated at first. It could be any day that Sherman would die. It was so dangerous for Sherman to leave the hospital. It was better if Sherman was well cared for and entertained, in here. It would be better...

Oh, who was he kidding? He wasn't even listening to his own story. Get it together, Mr. Peabody.

Mr. Peabody rubbed his temple. "We… could."

Sherman groaned in exasperation. "But may we?" he said, bracing himself for Mr. Peabody's next answer.

Troubled, Mr. Peabody shrugged and sighed, as if he were trying to shrug off a weight on his shoulders. Slouching slightly, he looked up into Sherman's pleading brown eyes and realized that this could be their last chance. That was why he came here as often as he could, after all. Mr. Peabody's distressed countenance melted away. If he wanted to chase away any doubts, he had to show it. He smiled and sat up straight, thinking of his story.

"Of course we may." Mr. Peabody finally said. "We will go to the park tomorrow."

"You promise?" Sherman said eagerly.

"I promise!" Mr. Peabody said, marking an invisible "X" on his chest with one finger.

Sherman threw his arms around Mr. Peabody and tightly embraced him. "That means a lot to me!"

Mr. Peabody hugged Sherman back. "You mean a lot to me, too."

Sherman gasped sharply and his eyes flew open. "Don't you mean….?"

"No, I meant what I said."

Sherman said under his breath, "_Oh_." They were suspended in that moment, until Sherman buried his face in Mr. Peabody's fur. Mr. Peabody felt tears sink into his shoulder.

Neither of them had to say anything more. The ever-whirring machines filled the silence with white noise. Sherman let go and sat back in his kneeling position.

After a little while of sitting quietly together, Mr. Peabody blinked, remembering what was going on. He slipped off of the bed and, heading out the door, said, "I'm going to get a cot…"

He returned within a few minutes, pushing a rolling fold-up bed into the room. Sherman was lying down again, with his sheets pulled up to his chest and his favorite stuffed animal in his arms. His glasses were already off. His eyes peeped open slightly to see Mr. Peabody enter again.

Mr. Peabody opened the bed and straightened the blankets. He removed his bow tie and glasses, setting them gently onto a nearby table. He went over to Sherman and stroked his forehead, and then he kissed it. Sherman smiled. Mr. Peabody turned off the nightstand lamp and got into his bed. Yawning, Mr. Peabody said, "We've got a big day tomorrow… good night..."

"Good night, Daddy," Sherman murmured, drifting off into a peaceful slumber.

Sherman's story wasn't a perfect "happily ever after" one; it was reality. However, it was also full of possibility, and taking risks. In this way, he and his father did live happily ever after… for as long as they could make "ever after" last.


End file.
